Putting the Pieces Together
by punk is dead
Summary: Post-Season Two AU Multi-Parter -- KateJack -- Chronicles their relationship and ultimate break-up.
1. An Unexpected Visitor

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me, so please don't sue me. 

**I. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR**

"Dad, I'll be right back, okay? I'm just gonna swing by the cafeteria and pick up some lunch, I'm starving." 

Jack looked up at his daughter, a faint smile playing across his lips. "Alright, sweetie." 

"Do you want me to grab you something? I mean, I know the food the hospital is giving you must be _wonderful_, but…" Again Jack smiled, and shook his head lightly. 

"That's alright." 

"You sure?" Kim asked, walking up to her father's bedside and letting her hand rest on his blankets.   
  
"Positive."

"Alright, then. I'll be back in a flash." Kim leaned down and planted a light kiss on her father's forehead before making her way out the door. The events of the past three days had been tough on the both of them, and it turned out in a way Jack never would have expected. Instead of him being the valiant knight whisking his daughter away to safety, _she_ was the one caring for _him._ He certainly wasn't expecting it to be like this for many, many, _many_ years.

Too lost in his thoughts, Jack didn't even notice the woman standing at his doorway. 

  
"Um…Jack…?" The sound of the woman's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned his gaze towards her. "Hi." 

"Kate." Jack said, trying to prop himself up from his lying position, but failing as his look of surprise quickly changed into a painful grimace. Kate immediately rushed to his side, placing what she was holding on the cushioned chair beside his bed. She put a hand on his shoulder, and another on his arm and helped him settle back in. 

Jack laughed bitterly before shaking his head, "I don't think I'll ever get used to this." 

"Well, hopefully you won't have to." Kate said with a smile as she turned around to pick up her things, and pull the chair closer to his bedside. Jack took a deep breath before turning his head to look at her. They had been through so much that day. Day: they had only known each other for three days. Unbelievable. 

"What's all that?" He asked, motioning his head towards the flowers and newspaper in her hands. 

  
"Well, after all that you did for me – and the nation, for that matter – I felt like the least I could do was get you some flowers to liven this place up a bit." She smiled brightly as she placed them on the table beside his bed. 

"Thank you, you really didn't have to." Jack replied, shaking his head. Kate looked at him, somewhat bewildered, she placed the newspaper beside the flowers, then leaned towards him. 

"Jack, if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead right now." 

"If it wasn't for _you_, we'd all be dead right now." 

Kate leaned back and stared at Jack in absolute shock. After everything that happened – all that he did to first find the bomb, then destroy it, then bring a war that would have cost millions of lives due to false pretenses to a stop, he credited her. It blew her mind. She laughed dryly. 

"I highly doubt that." 

  
"I don't." 

She looked at his weak form intently. It was strange to see this man who had proven to be virtually indestructible in the face of complete and utter destruction in such a vulnerable form. As much as she hated to use his injuries to her advantage, it did make what she was about to say less intimidating. 

"Jack. The real reason I came here was because—" She stopped in mid-sentence, unsure as to how she should approach what she had to say. There was no possible way it could come out even remotely sane, given the circumstances. No chance in Hell. 

  
"Was because…" Jack repeated her trailed off sentence, waiting for her to continue. "Kate, is something wrong? If there is just tell me and I'll make sure—" 

"No, Jack, nothing's wrong. Everything is fine. Or, at least I think so…" Jack looked at her, slightly confused. 

"Kate…?"

"Why did you agree when I told you I could pick up Kim from the Mathesons' house?" She asked abruptly. At that precise moment, Kim approached the door, but stopped at the sound of her name. She slowly crept to the doorway and peered in. She kept her gaze fixed on her father and Kate – who was sitting beside him, leaning towards the edge of his bed – and she listened. 

"What? I trust you, Kate. I knew it wouldn't be dangerous and it wouldn't be a problem. I needed a way to get Kim to CTU and you were my only chance." 

"But that's exactly what I mean. Why do you feel like you can trust me? I mean, we had known each other for less than a day – and even now I've only known you a couple of days, yet I still…" 

"You still what?" 

Kate shook her head and tilted it, smiling sadly.  "Jack," she started, shaking her head, "I don't even know how I'm going to say this…" 

"Just say it, Kate." 

Suddenly, a wave of doubt struck Kate. How could she do this? Merely days after their ordeal and Jack's heart attack, she just comes waltzing into the hospital, ready to declare everything without even a thought into how wrong it may be. Wrong – that's exactly what it was. Wrong. Plain and simply.   
  
And with that thought, Kate leaned closer to his bed and grabbed his hand.   
  
"Jack, you did more for me and my family than we could have ever asked for. You saved our lives, you saved the lives of millions, and above all, you kept your promise. You didn't let anything happen to me when it could have just been easier to let it go. You protected me and you kept me safe, and…and…I just wanted to let you know that I'm eternally grateful. You are a truly amazing man, Jack Bauer." 

Jack didn't know how to respond, but he didn't have to. Before he was able to put a sentence together, Kate had stood up, gave him a brief peck on the cheek, then made her way out of the room. 

Kim quickly took a few steps backwards as she heard Kate approaching the door, and began walking towards her father's room. 

"Oh, Kim, hi." Kate said, smiling sadly. 

"Kate, what a surprise. You here to see my father?" She asked, not hiding her suspicion very well. Kate looked at the ground as she ran her hand through her hair. She nodded her head slowly, then looked up at Kim. 

"Yeah, just saying my thank yous and goodbye." 

"Goodbye?" 

Kate nodded her head before walking over to Kim and pulling her into a hug. "I know I didn't really get to know you very well and I know that you're skeptical about how your father knows me, but I just want to tell you that I'm so happy you're safe and back with your father again. Take care of him, won't you?" 

"Of course," Kim said, slightly thrown off by the sudden display of emotion from this woman she hardly knew. Kate pulled away and Kim could have sworn she wiped a tear away before turning to face the hall that lead to the exit. 

"Bye Kim."  
  
"Bye Kate." 

**FIN I**


	2. The First Step

**II.  THE FIRST STEP**

It had been exactly three weeks since Jack had been released from the hospital. His life had changed a lot since then, understandably. CTU was out of the picture – at least for now. The doctors told him that he would have to take leave -- six months at the very least -- and to be honest, that didn't bother Jack one bit. He was pretty sure of the fact that he wasn't going to go back. Not now, not ever. 

His days had taken on a life of their own -- one he never would have imagined would play out. For example: last time he checked, Jack wasn't exactly the kind of guy who got sucked into soap operas, or TV in general, even. Yet, within the last couple weeks, he found himself not only watching General Hospital everyday, but also _enjoying_ it. It was not natural for him -- Jack Bauer -- to find such entertainment in soaps. And it was exactly that fact which prompted him to start up his daily jogging routine. He had been attending physical therapy to build up his strength and energy again, but since the sessions ended, he didn't get much exercise. Aside from bringing groceries in from the car, that is. And even then, Kim made a point to take the heavy stuff for him -- to avoid the stress on his "weak heart" of course. 

It was a bright Tuesday afternoon when he got ready for his third consecutive day of jogging. It was nice to finally get some sort of routine back in order. Just as he laced up his tennis shoes, Kim burst through the doors holding an armful of carry-out. 

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked jokingly as she placed them on the counter.

"Sorry, sweetheart, I'm going out for my jog now. If you just came home ten minutes earlier, maybe I would have been able to eat lunch with my lovely daughter." Jack joked as he walked up to Kim, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. 

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. I should tell Professor Saunders that next time...That my father is home waiting for lunch, so maybe she could hurry it up a little..." 

"Yeah, not so sure she'd like that," he replied, peeking into the bag. 

"Oh c'mon, Dad. I did you a favor...Plus, I won't be back 'til real late tonight since I have that huge psyche test tomorrow. Is your daily run really more important than spending time with your only daughter?"

"Of course not," Jack replied, shaking his head. "But take some advice from me: pizza might have sealed the deal. Thai? Eh, I don't know. Not exactly 'stop everything and eat' material. I'm gonna head out. Call Julie -- I'm sure she'd love to help you down some of this." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kim said with a smile as she pulled a fork out of the drawer. 

---

Jogging always helped clear Jack's mind. He never quite understood why, though, but it did. It helped him relax -- something he was never good at, especially after Teri's death. 

The park was bright and vibrant; full of life in every imaginable way. People walking, dogs barking, flowers blooming -- cliché but comforting in it's own predictability. 

Lost in his thoughts, Jack didn't even notice the blonde woman crouching down beside her dog until it was too late. Luckily, he caught himself before he came tumbling to the ground, but the woman wasn't as lucky. 

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, miss..." 

"Jack?!" 

Jack's head whipped around, and his eyes met with a somewhat bewildered, yet familiar face. 

"Kate." He said with a smile, his voice softening the way it always did when he said her name. He shook his head, suddenly realizing that Kate was still on the ground, and he wasn't helping her up. "Oh, I'm really sorry, I guess I was caught up in my own--" He extended a hand out to Kate and she gladly took it, cutting him off as he helped her up. 

"Don't worry about it, Jack. You saved my life a few times...I think you're entitled one knock down, by mistake." She smiled as she brushed the dirt from her jeans and readjusted the dog leash in her hand. "So, how've you been?" She asked, suddenly serious. 

The smile quickly faded from Jack's lips, and he looked down towards the ground, before meeting her eye contact. "I've been good. Really good, actually." He said with a laugh. "Been spending a lot of time at home with Kim -- away from CTU." 

Kate nodded her hand as she fidgeted with the leash. "Well, that's great. The last place you need to be is in an environment like that!" 

Eager to change the subject, Jack kneeled down to Kate's Golden Retriever and started patting it's side. "So is this guy yours?" 

"It's actually a girl," Kate responded with a grin as she kneeled down, also. "Her name's Sandy, and yes, she's mine. Actually, she's my father's, but I end up caring for her most of the time." 

Jack looked up from the dog, back to Kate. "How's he doing?" 

"My Dad?" Kate asked, prompting Jack to nod. "He's better, I guess you could say. Well, not really, but he's back to work, which is a good first step, I think," she finished, standing up once more. 

"Definitely." Jack said, nodding his head. "Definitely." 

They stood in silence for a moment, before Jack spoke up once more. 

"So what are you doing in the park in the middle of the afternoon? Don't you have to be at work or something? You make me feel like my privileged lifestyle isn't so privileged after all." 

Kate laughed and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I actually have Tuesdays off, so..."

"Wow, impressive." 

They looked at each other for a long moment. 

"Would you like to...Get some coffee or something?" Kate asked, breaking their gaze, then looking back up at him with a shy smile. 

Immediately, Jack felt uncomfortable. He wasn't used to flirting or arranging dates -- he hadn't had to do it since him and Teri were in college. It was strange, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to make that step. He only knew the woman for a day, for Gods sake. 

But at the same time, there was an undeniable connection between the two of them. He still didn't quite understand why Kate made such a strong impression on him, but she did. And that couldn't just be thrown away. The fact that they just happened to run into each other in the middle of the day had to be a sign. Things like that don't just happen -- they happen for a reason. 

"You know, I was just in the middle of a run, but..." 

Immediately, Kate backtracked nervously. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry, don't worry about it. I don't know what I was th--" 

"But...Um...I am free tonight." He didn't know where the words came from, but they were suddenly there. Outside, in the open, ready for her to take in. Kate's head snapped up, and she looked at him, somewhat confused. "Yeah, Kim's going to be out late -- She said something about a big psyche exam. So I guess that leaves me alone for the night, and..." 

Kate sensed Jack's discomfort, and smiled politely. She reached out her hand, and placed it on his forearm. 

"You know what? Why don't I come over and cook you some dinner tonight? You shouldn't have to be alone and forced to fend for yourself on the food front. Especially seeing that I have nowhere special to be tonight." 

She didn't exactly know what prompted her to take this huge leap of faith with this man, but something drew her to him. They had known each other for a day -- but that day seemed like an eternity. And that look on his face when he comforted her in her own kitchen still lingered in her mind -- it was there for her when things got tough, and she couldn't just disregard that. 

Jack looked at her for a moment, unsure as to what to say. He thought maybe they could grab a bite in the night, catch up, whatever...But having her come over and cook for him? Wasn't that a pretty big jump for a first date? 

A First Date. 

_Oh God_, Jack thought. 

He had to take the first step. It had been over a year, and he still hadn't forgiven himself for what happened to Teri, but he had to move on. If anything, running into Kate again was a sign. A sign that told him it was okay to live his life. 

"That sounds great."

**FIN II**


End file.
